MainelyReefer Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 Video of the bastards from this morning eating the Rasta, there are still a few lashes of color left hopefully it can recover If you can identify the species that would be much appreciated! 1 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 SUCCESS!!! I got a black ray shrimp goby and a candy cane pistol shrimp! Their names are Fritz(fish) and Weatherbee(shrimp) named after an Iconic Local NH celebrity, Fritz Weatherbee from NH chronicle. Literally a minute after dropping them in Fritz ate a few of those devil pods and now they aren't crawling all over the rocks, die devil pods DIE! I even heard Weatherbee snapping at some I assume. While they may not be forever inhabitants of the tank, the LFS only had a bonded pair of YCG and I didn't want both and morally couldn't separate them so this already bonded duo won me over and I couldn't be happier that they are performing their intended purpose! If you want to waste a few minutes of life and see the real Fritz Weatherbee here is a goofy video of him My AlgaeBarn order also arrived today and in it was an Aquariclip so expect some nicer photos of corals this weekend 4 2 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Fritz and Weatherbee sure do change the dynamic of the tank! A few stomatella may have found their watery grave at the hands of weatherbee but that’s a fair trade off for the work fritz is doing by eating the killer pods. The tank still teems with them at night and it pains me to know there is no “moonlight” I can implement do to contest restrictions, so my hope of winning a prize puts my corals at higher risk, it’s morally wrong but it’s almost over. My belief is a moonlight would enable Fritz to still hunt them but would also be enough to trick the pods into coming out for the night. The real purpose of this post is to show the difference in coral colors under different lighting, some with no filter and some with the aquariclip filter CFL only(actually looks like this daily) CFL+Aquariclip CFL+Actinic CFL+Actinic+Aquariclip Overall the Aquariclip makes things look like they are but only when under actinic, under only CFL the filter makes it all look orangey, for the contestants using Par LED’s I would highly recommend one of these it’s actually really awesome! I will grab a few more shots of corals to compare but this shaded acan has the most drastic effect. 1 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 When I still lived up north I would see Fritz sometimes. He was funny but had some great info also. 1 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 CFL only CFL+Filter CFL+Actinic CFL+Actinic+Filter CFL+Actinic+Filter from a far The acans are really getting smooshed together, perhaps I will move the one directly to the left of this rainbow acan to uncrowd the area a bit to allow for more growth. 3 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 9 hours ago, GraniteReefer said: CFL only CFL+Filter CFL+Actinic CFL+Actinic+Filter CFL+Actinic+Filter from a far The acans are really getting smooshed together, perhaps I will move the one directly to the left of this rainbow acan to uncrowd the area a bit to allow for more growth. I like the smooshed look. I think its one of the charms of a reef jar. Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Out of those combinations you use in the pictures which one is how you view the tank normally? Quote Link to comment
Nelson Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Do you have a video of Fritz and Weatherbee in action, consuming those evil pods? Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 The CFL only is how the tank always is, I can't wait until I can view it with a bluer spectrum in which case it looks most like the CFL+Actinic+Filter, which is much preferable! As for the video Fritz did catch one while I was taking the actinic photos but I didn't have the filter on the camera and was scrambling to catch the video so it's all blue washed. I will grab a normal video which will likely be just them moving sand and chilling. Also the devil pods ate a small acan bud that was recovering from the one the sexys ate and also nibbled on the corner of my Utter Chaos last night, hoping the utter will bounce back as the Rasta was too decimated to recover I think even though most of the base was left intact. Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 On 1/14/2018 at 9:27 AM, Lula_Mae said: It certainly looks peeved. Blastos can be funny sometimes. Any way you can take it out for a Lugol's dip? I have one blasto that is particularly finicky and has shriveled up for a few days from time to time and doing a Lugol's dip has helped reverse the issues. Went and found Lugols at one of my LFS as that original blasto is still upset on that one head, thanks for the suggestion I'll update if it helps or not. I also just added a drop to my Xenia tank as it says they like it too. Do you follow directions and use 40 drops per gallon for the dip solution? Guessing I could cut the recipe to dose a smaller dip container? Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 19 hours ago, GraniteReefer said: Went and found Lugols at one of my LFS as that original blasto is still upset on that one head, thanks for the suggestion I'll update if it helps or not. I also just added a drop to my Xenia tank as it says they like it too. Do you follow directions and use 40 drops per gallon for the dip solution? Guessing I could cut the recipe to dose a smaller dip container? I use maybe 3~ drops in a cup or so of water, or a little more if I'm seriously concerned about the piece. I dip for 3-5 minutes. I honestly don't even look at the directions on straight Lugol's lol. It may help to dip a couple days in a row and do a couple days off lights out, but may not be strictly necessary. I'd start with a dip a couple days in a row and see how it does after that. My acan was a bit slow to recover but it got there. 1 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 TBS reefroids fed+ small chunk of LRS Reef frenzy for Fritz and Weatherbee(acans grabbed some too!). WC performed about 4 hours later after basting the detritus into the water column, luckily Fritz and Weatherbee stay under the rock which is lower than the sand bed so my "100%" WC is still achievable although it's actually more like 85-90%. Tank was filled 20% then drained(twice) to rid the extra detritus contained in the sand bed that gets released as water is added. Here is a picture of the eaten Rasta Zoa, its base is still intact as the Devil Pods only ate the colored part(does anyone think it can recover?) also shown is the slight white edge of the nibbled Utter Chaos which is on the brighter orange one on the edge closest to the Eagle eyes. 2 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 It might still recover, I would not give up hope! 2 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 January FTS’s 3 2 Quote Link to comment
fishfreak0114 Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Gorgeous, everything is so puffy! Quote Link to comment
Beer Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Not exactly sure how I stumbled here this morning, but thanks for posting that video, made the morning a bit more tolerable, even if I am running behind. NH has some interesting weathermen for sure. I remember one guy with a super nasily higher register voice that was awkwardly overly animated from when I was a kid. The tank is looking good. 1 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 Just got around to doing a WC, Fritz and Weatherbee are doing great! Putting in the new CFL bulb made a big difference brightness wise, it was surprising seeing how browned out the old one became in 4 months. Other than ricordea getting buried in the sand, utter chaos getting overrun by eagle eyes, and a soon to be split head on the blue trumpets not much is happening tankwise. I did have a mishap with my airpump in that it got knocked off the fridge top where it sits, thus pinching the airline to a slow bubble(nothing was affected mostly was worried about the airpump). Fritz gearing up for a day of rebuilding the sand bed after I moved it all around during the WC 3 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 So last WC the larger one of the orange ricordea looked half detached, most likely I’m assuming from being constantly buried by weatherbee. On Wednesday I noticed it was gone and knew it would likely be a forever goner. Well even though it’s weatherbee’s fault it’s also him who pushed it out while excavating right in front of me this morning! Jackpot! I glued it onto a plug and will try to revive it in my 40. The other two rics I have are aquacultured and seem to do better than this wild caught specimen. and then here’s a funny picture of the hammer in the AM looking all squirrelly. I’ll try to do an update shot on what he looks like midday it’s quite the difference! 3 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 The hammer a few hours later 4 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Hi! Just a reminder to please pm me your February FTS by this Friday 3/2/18. Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 2 Days until FFM!!!!!! Doing my FTS later today but in the meantime I just grabbed this video of fritz, and he also photobombed me while I was photographing the blasto. The lights have been on for only 15-20 mins at this point so everything is just waking up. 2 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Crappy February FTS 3 Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Just beautiful. And the photo of Fritz and the blasto is great too. Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Gearing up for the New England Frag Farmers Market tomorrow!! I bought an epic tie dyed lunch box for $5 in the clearance section at Walmart to “insulate” my purchases! Aquatic Creations was close by so I stopped in for shits and giggles. I noticed the bounce shroom mother was freshly fragged, I have been waiting since I first went to this store to catch them when the frags are in as they always sell out immediately it seems. No luck they are out she says, but she thinks one may be lost in a tank, she flips the tank lights on as she is just opening and happens to spot the loose floating frag. Essentially I’m going 100$ poorer to the FFM but I have a sweet bounce mushroom that my wife actually likes. I have never felt better having spent an arm and a leg on a coral, this thing is wicked awesome and did I mention my wife likes it? I drilled a hole in the cup it came in and dropped a frag plug through, placed it on some epic frag plug holders I had oceanbox designs make, just below the water surface so it gets fresh flow but not so much as to move the mushroom. 3 Quote Link to comment
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